Chinese-British Hong Kong Pacts Appear in Peril

China appeared to threaten Thursday that it may tear up Sino-British agreements on Hong Kong’s future unless British colonial authorities abandon plans for democratic reforms.

“The issue facing the British side is now whether the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the other agreements reached between the two sides are still needed,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Li Jianying said at a news conference.

Li’s statement was primarily an accusation that London is refusing to abide by some terms of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. That agreement calls for return of the colony to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997, in return for Chinese guarantees to preserve its capitalist system and civil liberties for at least 50 years after that date.

But by claiming that London is destroying the agreement, Beijing could open the door to its own refusal to abide by the terms. No one in Hong Kong doubts that the colony will be handed over to China as scheduled. But many fear that its civil liberties will be eroded after 1997.

The Hong Kong stock market, responding to the escalating Sino-British confrontation, plunged Thursday. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index dropped 433.44 points, or 8%, to close at 4,978.21.

At the heart of the Sino-British confrontation are political reforms, proposed in October by Hong Kong Gov. Chris Patten. They would introduce a greater degree of democracy to the selection of the colony’s legislature.

The escalation of the conflict over Hong Kong came as a delegation of U.S. Senate Democrats met with Chinese leaders to press for actions by Beijing that could ease tensions in Sino-U.S. ties.

Sens. David L. Boren, Claiborne Pell and Carl Levin told a news conference at the U.S. Embassy on Thursday that in meetings with top Chinese leaders, they had urged China to take advantage of a “window of opportunity” to improve relations with the United States.